About the team

Première Classe currently has a team of nine members. Two highly experienced Teachers of French create the texts which are edited by our French team member in Draguignan, France. Our sound engineer records our native speakers and edits the audio files. Final proofing is completed by a highly experienced teacher of French who has not been involved in the creative process. Our Business Manager is responsible for accounts and website. 
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Director: Gigi Thiele
​Gigi Thiele is no stranger to the French teaching community, having taught in WA schools for over 30 years and recently concluded a decade in senior school executive positions. Gigi is soon to return to the classroom and continues to be passionate about all things French. She is driven by making the language and culture real, realistic and accessible to all students. She has extensive experience as Chief Marker of the TEE both written and oral components, was on the exam writing panel for 6 years, the Languages Consultant for AISWA for 7 years and has held Head of Department roles at Christ Church Grammar and All Saints’ College. Gigi is a recipient of the Marie-Louise Laurent Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Teaching of French and a PCTWA awardee. She has established exchange programs in France, was a founding member of TOFA and served in several executive positions, as well as holding executive positions on the WA/La Réunion Student Exchange and MLTAWA.
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​Our Founders
​In 2008, Brigitte Blunsdon and Tania Christie, two highly experienced teachers of French in Western Australia, both with more than 20 years of experience, launched Première Classe. Both are recipients of the prestigious Marie-Louise Laurent Award, recognising and honouring their outstanding contribution to the French Teaching community in Western Australia. Their passion was to support French teachers by creating assessment materials which could be used for semester exams, aligned with the WA ATAR Syllabus. The large majority of teachers in WA have been using these assessments since then.
They created additional resources such as the Alphabet PowerPoints, a SCSA endorsed course Restons Formés and sourced native speakers to assist schools with oral examinations.
In 2022 there was a change of ownership of Première Classe.